The Police and Fire-Rescue departments work together within our communities to provide the highest level of quality service and protection. From neighborhood watch to 9-1-1 services, our team is here for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Fire-Rescue Department

Urban Search And Rescue

If you have a major disaster in your community, Urban Search & Rescue (US&R) is on the scene to help. US&R is a rapid deployment team consisting of 70 technical rescue, and incident management specialists.

The San Diego task force is specially trained to assist local agencies throughout the nation in mitigating large scale urban disasters, both natural and man made. Through the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department, the City of San Diego coordinates San Diego County's Urban Search and Rescue (US&R) Task Force 8.

The San Diego teams' expertise is "confined space search and rescue" where structures have collapsed. San Diego team members have been dispatched to the World Trade Center after Sept. 11, 2001, the Northridge earthquake in 1994, the 1995 Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing, and several hurricane disaster areas, including when Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in 2005.

Members of the team come from a large variety of emergency and non-emergency agencies and companies in the greater San Diego County Region:

Balboa Naval Hospital San Diego

California Dept. of Forestry

Carlsbad Fire

Chula Vista Fire

Coronado Fire

El Cajon Fire

Encinitas Fire

Escondido Fire

Montebello Police

Oceanside Fire

Poway Fire

Rancho Santa Fe Fire

Santee Fire

San Diego City Fire

San Marcos Fire

San Miguel Fire Protection District

San Onofre Fire

City of Vista Public Works

Vista Fire

The Urban Search and Rescue system was developed in 1990 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in response to several disasters which occurred in the 1980s. The Loma Prieta earthquake, in particular, brought a significant focus on the federal, state and local governments' abilities to respond to such disasters.